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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Eikev, Devarim 10:2. Writing the Luchos from a Tikkun

Last week I wrote about the the Gemara in Megilla that says that it's assur for a sofer to write by heart; אסור לכתוב אות אחת שלא מן הכתב. The Bavli says that the Megilla Reb Meir wrote from memory where there was no alternative was only valid because he had perfect recall, so it was as if he was transcribing while looking at the Megilla he saw the year before. The Yerushalmi (Megialla 4:1, and Medrash Rabba Breishis 36:8) has another answer for Reb Meir's hetter- that he wrote one by heart, and that copy was indeed not Kosher. But then he looked at the first copy when he wrote the next one. The second one was Kosher because it was mitoch HaKsav. (The Sfas Emes says the only reason the Bavli didn't use this answer is because it holds the act of writing gufa is assur. It's also possible that the Bavli holds that the second Megilla can't be more mitoch haksav than the first. Lehavdil, the Yerushalmi's answer is a classic example of bootstrapping, like the story of the man that pulled himself out of a swamp by his own hair.)

I saw an interesting thing that echoes this idea. Rav Bergman in his second volume of Shaarei Ora (page 293) brings the following from a Rokei'ach; I didn't find it in any Rokeiach, but I did find it in a different sefer. In Parshas Eikev. The Ribono shel Olam told Moshe Rabbeinu that his breaking the luchos had a positive aspect.

ואכתב על הלחת את הדברים אשר היו על הלחת הראשנים אשר שברת

and Chazal (BB14b) darshen

אמר ר"ל אשר שברת אמר לו הקב"ה למשה יישר כחך ששברת

This sefer says pshat is that the first luchos were written by Hashem baal peh, which, while necessary, was not optimal. But once Moshe broke the first luchos, Hashem wrote the second Luchos mitoch haksav- from the letters that were floating around in the air from the first luchos.

I did not make this up. I saw it in the Beis Shlomo, who brings it from the Ir Binyamin on Maseches Gittin, eleven lines into the first column, who brings it from a pirush on the Zohar that I haven't found yet, who brings it "בשם גדול אחד." I'm sure it's in the Rokei'ach too, but I have not found it yet.

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